The
title, Under a Steel Sky, comes partly from the 1965 Doctor Who story,
The Ark, which had an episode called The Steel Sky, and partly from the
computer game Beneath the Steel Sky, which always used to crash on my
computer so I never finished it. From the two, came the idea of a huge
steel dome over a whole continent. The idea that the steel sky protected
the people from UV radiation actually comes from the film Highlander II,
which was at least partly about the attempts to bring down an artificial
UV shield that was no longer functioning properly. So, a lot of influences
coming together for this story.
The protests, the tyrant, the siege all come together to give Chrístõ a problem to solve. And once again, the diplomatic solution presents itself. He is, after all, on a train full of diplomats. The fact that the said diplomats talk down the freedom fighters is a nod to another film, the 1982 Who Dares Wins, in which the terrorist leader loses her cool when experienced politicians and public speakers respond to her with logical arguments. But these freedom fighters aren’t quite as nasty. And Chrístõ knows they aren’t. He calls their bluff, and calls the bluff of the tyrant who is keeping the people under his thumb as well as under the steel sky.
By total coincidence, this story, in which Chrístõ organises the opening of the steel sky so that the sunlight shines down on the people for the first time, went online the day before Gridlock was broadcast on British TV. In that Doctor Who story, The Doctor opens up the steel sky of the motorway and liberates the people who had not seen sunlight for years.
